Patriots Mailbag: Standing pat at the deadline

It's time for the Week 9 edition of the 98.5 The Sports Hub New England Patriots Mailbag. As the calendar flips to November, there's certainly no shortage of topics to discuss.

On one hand, there's the recently passed NFL trade deadline. Despite speculations they'd sell, the team ended up standing pat and not moving any of their players on expiring contracts.

READ MORE:

--Patriots stand pat at NFL trade deadline
--How Tuesday's trade deadline changes Sunday's matchup
--Week 8 Ups & Downs

There was also another loss on Sunday, as the Patriots fell 31-17 to the Dolphins to fall to 2-6. Their odds to make the playoffs have now dipped to three percent.

What are Patriots fans pondering coming away from a busy few days? Let's get to the questions...

I don't know if 'disappointed' is exactly the right word, but I did find it curious. At 2-6 there isn't much hope at a postseason run, and with just 43 players currently under contract for next year future assets are crucial to rebuilding the roster. Trading away players on expiring contracts would have been a good way to add assets for the future, which the team elected not to do. If those players now walk in free agency, it will represent a major missed opportunity.

That being said, there is one way the Patriots can justify how they handled this year's deadline, which leads us to our next question...

A big part of the reason the Patriots are in the roster predicament their in is their inability to retain young talent. As Zack Cox of NESN pointed out this week, between players they selected in the top three rounds (basically all top-100 picks) from 2014-2019, ZERO of the 19 went on to sign a second contract with the team.

While the Patriots didn't sign most of those players because they failed to hit on the picks, there are others such as Joe Thuney and Damien Harris that certainly were logical candidates for second contracts.

Now, that 2020 draft class is up for extensions. If the Patriots want to start really rebuilding their roster, they need a foundation of core young players under team control. Guys like Kyle Dugger and Mike Onwenu certainly would fit that description if re-signed. If the Patriots end up keeping them around with long-term contracts, it would make sense in hindsight why the team didn't trade them.

As for Josh Uche, his situation is a bit different because of his projected market, and scheme fit. If the Patriots were going to trade one of the three yesterday, he would have made the most sense.

It would make a lot of sense for the Patriots to keep Mike Onwenu around and play him at right tackle. Not only is he a good right tackle, but adding a starting-caliber tackle is a significant undertaking. If Onwenu doesn't come back the Patriots will need to add two this offseason, with Trent Brown sounding committed to testing the open market this spring.

However, the team has said in the past they view him as a guard long-term. If that's how they've evaluated him, they likely wouldn't be urgent to bring him back after investing heavily in the guard position in the draft the last two years.

With Kendrick Bourne and DeVante Parker both suffering injuries last week, somebody will have to step up in the Patriots' wide receiver room. JuJu Smith-Schuster and Demario Douglas will get the top two spots, but a third receiver will need to emerge between Kayshon Boutte, Tyquan Thornton, and Jalen Reagor.

Boutte has been a healthy scratch since making his debut in Week 1. If the Patriots are going to give him another chance, this is it. However, the team seems high on Reagor, and likely has more motivation to see if Thornton can play to the level he was expected to when drafted in the second round in 2022.

Alex Barth is a writer and digital producer for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Looking for a podcast guest? Let him know on Twitter @RealAlexBarth or via email at abarth@985TheSportsHub.com.